Greatest Songs of 2010 Playlist

Ok, now this is a playlist that took me hours to put together. It wasn't the song selection, which only took me about 20 minutes, no. The real time sink was getting them in the right order. I didn't want to put them in a worst to best order. For one thing that would be almost impossible to determine. I also didn't want them in a completely arbitrary structure like alphabetical; we are talking about the best songs of the year not reference books.

So then I realized why not just make it like a compilation CD track list and make each song flow into the other as best as I could. BRILLIANT! At least that is what I thought until about hour 2 of skipping to the end of tracks to double check if I had the best transition, but I persevered.

So with out further ado, here is my Best of 2010 Playlist.
* indicates the video is worth a look, not just a listen.

You Are Dangerous - Steel Train

Garbage Truck - Sex Bob-omb

Black Sheep - Metric

The Diamond Church Street Choir - The Gaslight Anthem

Beatles - Daniel Johnston (This link says it is from 2009, they are wrong)

Fuck You - Cee Lo Green

Beautiful People - The Books

My Body is a Cage - Peter Gabriel

Power of The Heart - Peter Gabriel

The Like in I Love You - Brian Wilson

Summertime - Brian Wilson

Goodbye Sweet Dreams - Roky Erickson w/ Okkervil River

Little Lion Man - Mumford & Sons

*Little Bird - Eels

Songbird - Crash Test Dummies

57821 - Janelle Monáe

To Darkness / Kripa - The Dharohar Project, Laura Marling and Mumford & Sons

All of The Lights (Interlude) - Kanye West

All of The Lights - Kanye West

Group Autogenics I - The Books

*The Best of Times - Sage Francis

Blame Game - Kanye West (Unfortunatly this video has the hideous album cover)

Airplanes prt2 - B.o.B.

Rhinestone Eyes - Gorillaz

*Some Kind of Nature - Gorillaz

Swallow It - Brandon Flowers

You and I Undercover - Steel Train

*The Cave - Mumford & Sons

Devil Town - Daniel Johnston

Fall Asleep - Steel Train

Best albums of 2010

Well Instead of putting full reviews for all of my favorite albums of the year I am just going to do a short list to finish out the list. Some of these albums I will probably comeback to at some but I just want to finish up this so I can continue on my Top 50, my journey through The Mountain Goats and some more standalone reviews and thoughts.

10.) Scott Pilgrim Soundtrack/Score

9.) American Slang – The Gaslight Anthem

8.) The Age of Adz – Sufjan Steven
Best Song: Impossible Soul (well the first part of it anyways)

I have never been as enamored with Sufjan Steven as most other people I know. He certainly always showed talent on all his albums but none of them really called out to me. The Age of Adz changes that with the sheer beauty and ambition on display. The combination of singer-songwriter sensibility with electronica techniques makes the album fairly unique. It is also nice to see some board line pretentious ballsiness of old school prog exhibited in the 25 min “Impossible Soul”. In fact Sufjan Steven and The Beast and The Broadsword era Jethro Tull can hang out.

7.) The Way Out – The Books
Best Song: Beautiful People

Now for those who don’t know them, The Books are an electronic folk band. They use spoken word samples from old thrift store tapes and then right a song behind them, only occasionally singing themselves. To say they are unique is an understatement. What other band would open with a meditative song which contains the line “You may just possibly detect from my voice that I am Irish. And now I leap forward in time” then a few songs later have a song that is a fight between a young brother and sister with backing music funky as hell. Then of course there is “Beautiful People” a song about the concept of the 12th root of 2, which is the mathematical relationship between two musical notes.

6.) B.o.B Presents The Adventures of Bobby Ray – B.o.B
Best Song: Airplanes Part II

He performs with Haley Williams, Rivers Cuomo, and Janelle Monae. He samples Vampire Weekend and a performance of Gershwin’s “Summertime”. He has a song that sounds more like a Jack Johnson or One Eskimo song then a song off a hip-hop album. I could keep going but there is a lot about this record that I just love. Above everything else is one very important factor that glues it all together. B.o.B has great taste. He likes good music so he makes good music. Sure he isn’t breaking any new ground but every song except “Past My Shades” is entertaining. "Airplanes Part II" not only has excellent parts by B.o.B and Haley Williams, but also has the greatest verse ever delivered by Eminem. This is one I would suggest getting the Deluxe version, “Letters from Vietnam” really deserves to be on the main album.

5.) The ArchAndroid (Suites II and III) – Janelle Monae
Best Song: 57821

A concept album, inspired by the movie “Metropolis” and taking elements from funk, hip-hop, folk, jazz, electronica, and classical music. This album more then any other this year gives me hope for the future of pop music. The ArchAndroid could have been a complete disaster, over reaching, pretentious, preachy, philosophically empty and mindless. Instead through the obvious care and craft of Janelle Monae it is thoughtful, ambitious, intelligent and intriguing. Plus I am all for tricking the pop audience into listening to classical music.

4.) Scratch My Back – Peter Gabriel
Best Song: My Body is a Cage

You say you plan on recording a record of covers and people role their eyes. You then add that it will be orchestral people start to groan. Then you say that there will be NO traditional rock instruments on the album and some people start getting intrigued. Then when the album not only matches but surpasses many of the originals, well then you get Scratch My Back. Not a single song on this disc is a waste of space. The Orchestral arrangements are never half assed and Gabriel turns in a fantastic and heartfelt vocal performance on each track, especially in a great stretch of songs from the middle of the album. Lou Reed’s “Power of the Heart”, Arcade Fire’s “My Body is a Cage”, The Magnetic Fields “The Book of Love”, Randy Newman’s “I Think It’s Going to Rain Today” and Regina Specter’s “Apres Moi”. This streak leaves me emotionally exhausted and the pure strength of this stretch could guarantee a spot on this list, but the fact that it is embedded in the middle of other fantastic tracks propels it to number 4

3.) Flamingo – Brandon Flowers
Best Song: Swallow It

Now I talked about this album before and my opinion has not changed much. I thought it was fantastic then and if anything I like it even more now. Every track is interesting and catchy and never try and reach beyond what they are. “Swallow It” is one of the greatest songs of 2010 (yeah I will do a top songs of 2010 before putting the year to rest) and really this album serves to prove that The Killers isn’t just Brandon Flowers, but it would do just fine if it was.

2.) Steel Train – Steel Train
Best Song: Fall Asleep vs You and I Undercover

Damn if only American Slang was number 10 and this was number 1 I could have had some nice Springsteen disciple bookends. If you asked me to define what exactly makes Steel Train such an amazing band…well I would likely get flustered and end up saying, “just check them out and hear for yourself.” They really are hard to pin down. They aren’t pushing any new ground but they don’t sound like a lumped sum of all their influences. And while I don’t think this record stands up to their last album Trampoline on a songwriting level, it does equal (if not surpass) it on an emotional level. This album would have been a definite number 1 for 2010…the only problem is the next album gives a combination that is really not fair to the rest on the list. If this album didn’t come out every other album on this list would be bumped up one slot and Jim Bryson And The Weakerthans’ The Falcon Lake Incident could have graced the list. But I guess that is what happens when…



1.) Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin – Brian Wilson
Best Song: The Like in I Love You or maybe Summertime or maybe…all of them

There is no way this couldn’t be my favorite album of the year, absolutely no way. Two songs that are personal favorites of mine are Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” and Brian Wilson’s “Love and Mercy”. If either of those come up without me expecting them consider my productivity shot for the remainder of their duration as I drift into the exquisite melodies. Well turns out Brian Wilson shares my love for “Rhapsody in Blue” citing it as his earliest musical memory and bookending the album with vocals performances of the piece and scattering various excerpts throughout the album, a smart move that pays tribute to the original without trying to match the majesty of the whole piece. On top of performing the standards Wilson also had the honor of completing two unfinished Gershwin compositions. The first full song on the album “The Like in I Love You” and the last full song “Nothing But Love”. Both are great but “The Like in I Love You” is the clear winner. It fits seamlessly with the timeless Gershwin classics like it was meant to. I guess I come off a little sappy in my love for this album but what can I say, it just puts me in a very innocent and transcendent mood!

2010 In Review: Top 10 Covers

As you may well know I am a huge fan of covers. I think they are a perfect way to get into new acts and to be introduced to new songs/band through your favorite artists. These are the covers that I think are the absolute best of the year. You will notice a lack of ironic indie acts covering pop songs on this list. That is because sincerity is what catches my eye more often then not. Plus how many solo acoustic covers of “Bad Romance” do we really need?

1.) Summertime – Brian Wilson

 Janis Joplin version

Now I will be talking about the album this is off of a little later, but this song is something special. It is a pretty commonly covered song that has been preformed by Ella Fitzgerald, Sam Cooke and perhaps most famously by Janis Joplin. But you can take all those versions and throw them to the wayside. This is the definitive version of the song, the well placed orchestra, light jazz piano and restrained vocal delivery really drive it home.

2.) My Body is a Cage – Peter Gabriel

Original

I actually heard this version before hearing the Arcade Fire original, and a result of that is I hate the original. It just sounds so weak and distant when compared to this monster. Most artist who use a string section bring them in to play a simple and basic part. Peter Gabriel lets them be a symphony, slowly building tension before bursting out in all its fury. This cover could work as a classical piece and that is where its real strength lies.

3.) In Germany Before The War – The Extra Lens

Original

The last thing I expected to find on this John Darnielle side project was a cover of a Randy Newman Song. What I expected even less was for this cover to be the best song on the album, Undercard is a good album but certainly isn’t excellent. The accordion is what makes the song, accentuating the distant sadness of the song. It just feels my mind with an image of the story teller gazing off with glazed grey eyes absentmindedly play the insurment. Just beautiful.

4.) Let’s Call the whole thing off – Brian Wilson

Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong

This one is just fun. Most people have heard some version of this Gershwin song before, even if only the time Christopher Walken did it on SNL. Again this is probably my favorite version; it is just a rollicking good time that puts a smile on your face.

5.) Fuck You – William Shatner

Original

Once again this is just fun. It is live and delivered with that usual later life Shatner vocal delivery. If you like Has Been you will love this cover. It is played up and over the top which makes it all the better.

6.) Power of the Heart – Peter Gabriel

Original

Now after that little fun interlude we get another powerful orchestral cover by Peter Gabriel, this time of one of my favorite Lou Reed songs. Again the strings are excellent, and the vocal delivery just breaks my heart.

7.) Bulletproof – Steel Train

Original

When you hear an indie band cover a dance song you expect it to be an ironic cover. Well Steel Train is special. They take this excellent La Roux song and make a version that isn’t poking fun at it, or pointing out some flaw in the lyrics or melody. The are covering it to pay homage/put there own spin on a song the love. The focus on acoustic instruments with spare electric lines throughout is a brilliant stroke

.8.) Turnpike Ghost – Tegan and Sara

Original

Speaking of Steel Train, they came out with an album this year. And (more importantly to this post) came out with a companion album which had every song from the album covered by a female artist. Now all the covers are good, but only one is as good if not better then the original song. They slow it down a little and using an electronic backing that is catchy beyond belief.

9.) Solsbury Hill- Lou Reed

Original

In return for Peter Gabriel covering my favorite Lou Reed song, Lou Reed covers my favorite Peter Gabriel song. But unlike Gabriel, Reed’s cover doesn’t equal the original. It is still an interesting listen. It has been completely transformed into a Lou Reed song full of distortion and feedback that plods along at a hypnotizing pace.

10.) You’ve Got a Friend in Me –Gipsy Kings

Original

Another Randy Newman cover. The Gipsy Kings covered this song for Toy Story 3 (which is my favorite film of the year). It is quick catchy and done in that flamenco style that the Gipsy Kings do so well.

2010 in Review: Disappointments

Well we talked about some of the good now lets hit the bad. There isn’t really a whole lot to go here most albums that came out this year have been good to amazing, even still there are a few that just didn’t hit the mark.

Recovery – Eminem

As much as I talked about how much rap has finally penetrated my listening habits, I still don’t like Eminem. Sure he has a couple of good track but the rest of his stuff is just bad. Now that means that this album wouldn’t really be a disappointment, except that everyone was raving about how great it was. I heard everything from “his best album ever” to “finally got me into Eminem/rap”. So I figured what the hell…what a bad idea on my part. There is only one good song on the entire album “Love the Way You Lie” and that has more to do with producer Alex da Kid then Eminem. Every other song either bores me or grates my ears.

Lady Killer – Celo Green

How did he mess up so badly? The internet favorite “Fuck You” is a brilliant song that sounds like it belongs on Stevie Wonders Songs in the Key of Life (except for the lyrics content of course). The rest of the album is taken up with mediocre to awful faux Motown sensibilities. And since most people would argue that Motown was mostly made of false sentiment when I call this fake Motown you know we are in deep shit. When any song comes up besides “Fuck You” I have to wonder to myself; why am I not just listening to Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye or the Temptations.

Lawrence of Euphoria – Beck

The last two were bad albums with one good song on it. This is a good album with one song that disappoints me so much that it almost ruins the entire thing. This is from Beck’s Record Club where Beck got together with Wilco, Fiest, and Jamie Lidell and covered every track from one of my favorite albums, OAR by Alexander “Skip” Spence. They do a pretty good job on every song except for one, one that happens to be my personal favorite. The original “Lawrence of Euphoria” is only 1:31 and is a manic acoustic tune barely in tune with a jangle that captivates. So Beck and Co. extend it to 5:18 and make it a stripped down dance tune that doesn’t succeed at being a good tribute or a good dance song.



Contra – Vampire Weekend


Out of all the albums in this post this one isn’t actually bad, but it still ends up being the most disappointing. The main problem is Vampire Weekend’s debut was nothing short of brilliant, and Contra is just good. I talked about this album before but what it really boils down to it the song writing has taken a hit. They feel like they just tried to use an electronic sound to mask the fact that these songs just didn’t hit the level they did on their debut. They even do it on songs when without the digital sound they would be amazing. I like the song “California English” but with out the autotune it would be brilliant. Once again this album isn’t bad, but it certainly doesn’t have me excited to see what they do next like Vampire Weekend did.

2010 in Review: Surprises

The year is coming to a close and all the albums that are on my radar are out. So it is time to look back at the gold and shit from 2010. Now going into this year there were several acts that I knew where coming out with albums that I was excited for and expected to be excellent, but even with all these treats waiting I managed to stumble onto somethings that surprised me. These are artists or albums that I had never heard of or albums that I thought were going to suck that were actually good or maybe even great.

I won’t be going into great detail here on most albums since some of them will be included in my Best albums of the Year list and others I have little more to say then “It is worth a listen/skip it”

Rap/hip-hop

This year is the first to convince me that rap albums are worth owning. Let me elaborate. For a long time I hated rap, there was nothing you could do to get me to listen to this shit people were passing for music. In fact until this year I could count the rap albums I owned on one hand (Nerdcore Rising, Secret from the Future, Fight with Tools, 3Feet High and Rising, Demon Days). As my opinion started to soften I began to consider rap artist as single based acts, a fact that is basically true for many acts. There just weren’t any hip-hop acts that I wanted a full album from unless you were MC Frontalot, The Flobots, or Gorillaz.

2010 has changed all that. Sure I got good albums from both MC Frontalot and The Flobots, and an excellent one from Gorillaz, but that wasn’t the defining moment that started my new hip-hop awakening. That came from B.o.B.‘s debut “B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray”. Now I don’t want to talk too much about this album here, but it caught my attention. It was a great example of how close the line between those who consider themselves “street” and geeks has been blurred. And it was through this album that I discovered another breakout artist of 2010.

Janelle Monáe probably shouldn’t be in the hip-hop section because she is so much bigger than that. Again I don’t want to get to deep into it here but she is and artist who gives me hope for the artistry of album making and the ambition of concepts.

Now after talking about two artist that I can’t really get into yet lets talk about the biggest surprise of the year Kanye West. With all the stupid build ups and stunts to it, “My Dark Twisted Fantasy” should have sucked. And the first taste of it certainly didn’t help. Runaway was the first song people heard, along with a 30min mini movie music video for it. I will link to neither since they are both abysmal. So when the album came out I got it with plans of tearing it a new one…too bad it is an amazing album. Not a single song is truly bad except for “Runaway”. In fact “All of the Lights” is one of my favorite songs of the year.

Another established rap act that I just discovered is Sage Francis. His new album “Li(f)e” is a marriage between rap and indie rock in a way that will turn off the more hardcore fans of either genre, but for me this is like peanut butter and chocolate together at last. The best track of this is “Best of Times”, it made me cry the first time I listened to it. It is just a very powerful songs for someone who grew up as kind of an outsider in school.

Collaborations

Another aspect of this year’s music is how many artists have collaborated with good results. Now one would think when two great acts get together they should be able to spin straw into gold, but more often it just doesn’t happen. Every hear Eric Clapton’s album with B.B. King? But this year gave us a great set of collaborations.

There is Danger Mouse and James Mercer of the Strokes form Broken Bells, Jim Bryson And The Weakerthans release “Falcon Lake Incident”, David Bryne and Fatboy Slim come out with “Here Lies Love” with a plethora of guest vocalists, Ben Folds and Nick Hornby’s “Lonely Avenue”, John Darnielle and Franklin Bruno putting out an Extra Lens album “Undercard”, and Elton John and Leon Russell give us “The Union”. Every album one of these albums is at least good and several of them are amazing.

Veterans

The acts that people consider musical dinosaurs seem to all either fall into a pattern or fall to banality and never escape. But there has been some truly amazing music from some so called Dinosaurs. Both Peter Gabriel and Brian Wilson came out with one of the best albums of the year. We also got a very interesting statement from Devo, who, after years of preaching DIY mentality release a completely market tested album, with fans choosing everything from the songs on the album to the color of their hats. It is a really fascinating move and I suggest anyone who is interested in the music industry look into it. Other old acts with good albums this year include Iron Madien, Joe Satriani, Santana, and Peter Wolf.

They're still around?

So what about the bands that seem to have disappeared from the main public view? Well this year say releases from Barenaked Ladies, Shonen Knife, James, Jakob Dylan, and The Crash Test Dummies. The Crash Test Dummies album “Oooh La La” is especially interesting, the album is based around old analog toy synthesizers. You would think a gimmick like that would overpower and album, but listen to the opener “Songbird” and tell me if you spot a gimmick.

So over all this has been a really great year for music that is both accessible and ambitious. I will go into this more once I get to talking about specific albums, but before we get there we have one more stop. Like I said overall 2010 has been a great year for music fans full of more good then bad…which doesn’t mean the bad doesn’t exist. Next time I will take you through my biggest disappointments of 2010, which albums just didn’t meet expectations.